Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

As usual there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
The novel Planet of the Apes was released in 1963 in France by French author Pierre Boulle. In that same year publicist Arthur Jacobs bought the screen rights while he was looking for something "like King Kong".
Five years later in 1968 the film was released with one of the most famous twist endings of cinematic history.
The film is a fun "off-planet" sci-fi adventure story with heavy commentary on societal expectations and standards.
I have two lovely guests to help us understand this sci-fi classic.
John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including his new book Doom Town USA
Phil Nichols is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University, and formerly Film & Television course leader at the University of Wolverhampton.
The Scopes trial was a 1925 case in the USA in which a teacher was accused of violating the law by teaching evolution in schools. The trial was set up on purpose to challenge the Butler Act which prevented the teaching of evolution.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Book vs film
03:53 Arthur Jacobs
06:28 From astronaut to animal
11:10 Simian society
15:43 Concepts of civility
20:07 Western vibes
22:39 The Trial
26:40 Race
32:46 1968 USA
39:25 The twist ending
42:34 Liberty in ruins
47:37 Legacy
52:18 The brains behind the ending
53:19 Recommendations
 
Recommendations
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Soylent Green (1973)


 
NEXT EPISODE!
Eep! It's finally here. I tried to put it off for as long as I could but the 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-series will begin next week with a two-part first episode. 
The film is available widely. According to Just Watch (where you can find the availability in your region) it is included in the HBO subscription in the USA and Australia. In Canada it's included in the Crave subscription. In the UK it's Prime video and Now Cinema. 
But the film can also be bought or rented online from many outlets including Apple, Fandango, Spectrum and Prime. Or you could buy a fancy DVD of it to add to your collection.

As always, there are spoilers ahead. 
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. 
If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm 
Graphic novels and comics were widely considered to be for children in the early 1960s. It was a relatively small number of artists and publishers who were working to have comics seen as a viable form of art as well as making comics for adults. 
Although the history of comics for adults is definitely older, this period marks a surge in European interest in the medium. Famous film producer Dino de Laurentiis helped this when he bought the filming rights to adult comics Diabolik (from Italy) and Barbarella (from France) turning them both in to movies in the 1960s.
De Laurentiis originally wanted Bridget Bardot for the title role and after she turned it down, he looked to Sophia Loren who did the same. His third choice was Jane Fonda who initially rejected the script until her then husband Roger Vadim convinced her to take it. Vadim joined as Director and the rest is kitschy sci-fi history.
I have two fantastic guests to talk through this swinging 60s sci-fi space opera oddity. 
Lisa Yaszek is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited extensively on science fiction. 
Hugo Frey is Professor of History at the University of Chichester. He has a special interest in graphic novels and is co-author of the 2026 book The Look of the 1960s. Barbarella and the Pulp Pop Comics.
CORRECTION: In the question about the legacy of Barbarella I say Star Trek when I mean Star Wars.  
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:17 Sci-fi precedence
03:45 Barbarella comic origins
06:31 1960s France and the rise of adult comics
09:37 Jane Fonda playing it straight
10:59 Jean Claude Forest
12:22 Jane Fonda: Body dysmorphia and sexploitation
14:01 Censorship
19:19 Pop Art and design
26:56 Big hair and science fiction
32:24 Terry Southern
35:50 UK vs US reception
41:48 Government girl with a gun
44:22 A progressive Barbarella?
46:48 Masculinity and femininity
55:37 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
Born in Flames (1983)
Bardot, Deneuve and Fonda: The Memoirs of Roger Vadim
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg (2024)
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be talking about The Planet of the Apes (1968). Planet of the Apes is available to rent or buy from major online platforms including Apple TV. It is also available on Disney+ in the UK. You can check the Just Watch website to find where it may be streaming in your region.

Translation for the intro:
A race against time. Office time against outside time.
Who's winning?
I don't know yet.
 
Apologies as I am coming down with a heavy cough and need sleep. I am so out of it that I almost forgot that it is release day! But I jumped out of bed with quite a shock and here you have the episode. Phew!
As always, there are spoilers ahead.
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
 
1968's Je t'aime, je t'aime (AKA I Love You, I Love You). A wonderfully unusual science fiction film about memory, love and loss by French New Wave director Alain Resnais.
If you would like an overview of the plot you can find it on the Wikipedia page here.
The time code after the beep (indicating the discussion about sexual violence is done) 50 minutes and 40 seconds.
I have two magnificent guests!
Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.
Mani Sharpe is a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Leeds. He is the author of the book Late-Colonial French Cinema: Filming the Algerian War of Independence.
At one point Mark mentions Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges and I'm mentioning it here as I had to look it up and it might be on interest.


Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:42 Alain Resnais
07:20 France in 1968
11:27 Cancelled Cannes Film Festival
13:51 Editing and Chronology
20:10 Continuity conventions
24:33 Editing words and memories
33:23 Unreliable Narrator
39:05 The film watching experience
44:21 Loss and heartbreak in sci-fi
50:55 Legacy
55:05 Recommendations
 
Recommendations
New Rose Hotel (1998) by Abel Ferrara
Alain Resnais by Emma Wilson
 
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Wish me luck as I attempt to arrange an episode on Barbarella in two weeks. As this hasn't been finalised I would suggest that you might also like the watch Planet of the Apes just in case should the fates be tricky! Both of these films are quite easy to find to rent.

Translation for Intro: 
"Fire Dragon can reduce Tokyo to ashes in just a few hours."
Godzilla ROARS.
"It's Godzilla!"


As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you have like to wear a monocle and talk about fancy artisan cheeses maybe you would like to be a patron of the podcast? Luckily neither of those things are a requirement! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
If you are interested in the plot of the film you can read an overview on the wikipedia page here.  
Correction: In the intro I say Japanese Air Base when I mean Japanese Moon Base.
Welcome to the podcast!
TIME FOR PANIC TO ENSUE!!! We are in 1968! It's finally here! Am I ready for the 2001: A Space Odyssey? No, I am not! But I'm getting there. Please bear with me. 
In the meantime, I shall distract you with a chat about one of the most visually delightful of Kaiju Films (Although one of our guests' recommendations may have it beat in visual delights). You can see an array of the stills from Destroy All Monsters on my Instagram account. This is the swinging 60s Japan style!
In 1968 ToHo studios decided to wrap up the Godzilla Franchise with a big bang! A Kaiju extravaganza featuring 11 monsters. Let me list them for you.
Godzilla 
Rodan
Angurius
Mothra (very tragically in larva form)
Gorosaurus 
Minilla (Godzilla's son who gives me the creeps. Sorry!)
Kumonga
Baragon
Manda
Varan
King Ghidorah 
Due to international success the franchise continued on. Hoorah!
I have two gargantuan guests for you. (They actually are, as far as I am aware, human sized although I have no proof.) 
Yuki Miyamoto is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Humanities Center at DePaul University. Her work focuses on the ethics around nuclear discourse.
Blair Davis is a Professor of Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University. He has written a lot about cinema and comics and including the book The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema.
Chapters 
00:00 Introduction
01:33 Sci-Fi films from 1950s to 1968
03:14 Comparison to Godzilla 1954
05:23 1960s Japan
08:49 Blair's love of the film
09:59 The intentions behind the film
11:14 The 'Monster Rally' tradition
13:53 Visual delights
14:36 The first 10 minutes
18:22 The island connections
21:14 The Showa Era and Japan on the global stage
24:49 Aliens! The Kilaaks
29:38 The Izu Peninsula and Shogun
30:16 The Kaijus
40:17 The final battle
43:12 A changing Godzilla
46:52 Legacy
49:26 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla in Hell by James Stokoe 
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode (if all goes well) we will be talking about the Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968) which is available on BFI player in the UK (which is accessible through Apple TV) but seems very elusive elsewhere. There is a version on YouTube but it is in French. The English title (I Love You, I Love You) did not seem to help. The BluRay is also available but for slightly silly prices outside of the UK from what I can see. I wish you luck in finding it!

There are spoilers ahead! For many films I'm afraid.
I would especially avoid the episode until you have watched Ex-Machina (which you really really should immediately it really is phenomenal) as Jes does talk directly about the ending between 53:23 till 53:46.
I have made a list of the films and books mentioned below.
This is another detour episode and perhaps you're thinking I'm trying to avoid the very big task of recording 2001: A Space Odyssey content. And perhaps you're right. But I hope you enjoy this discussion.
If you try to think of a futuristic city your mind may be drawn towards a real place but it could just as easily be drawn towards the great science fiction films that render our future on our screens.
Films like Blade Runner, Minority Report, Fifth Element and (the granddaddy) Metropolis have all shown us what human futures could look like. Sometimes these visions are intimidating, terrifying or occausionally aspirational. These images in turn can affect and inform own understanding of what an unwritten future should be like.
I have two wonderful guests to talk through the somewhat symbiotic relationship of science fiction and architecture
Amy Brookes is an architect and an Associate Professor at the University of Reading. She has written extensively about architecture and one of her special interests is Architecture in science fiction literature and film.
Jes Deaver is an award-winning architect as well as a filmmaker and writer. She is the author of the article The Architecture of Imagination which explores the parallels between science fiction and architecture.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:32 The SF-Architecture connection
06:40 How the symbolism of the tower changes
14:38 Anxieties in architecture
17:00 The reciprocal relationship
27:10 Fears of suburbia
30:27 Non place and virtual space
33:43 Apocalyptic futures
40:02 Hopeful alternatives
49:04 Favourite architectural sci-fi films
53:46 Recommendations
Recommendations:
And He Built a Crooked House by Robert Heinlein
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
 
Films mentioned in the episode:
Metropolis (1927)
Blade Runner (1982)
Minority Report (2002)
Chappie (2015)
District 9 (2009)
Attack the Block (2011)
Fifth Element (1997)
Just Imagine (1930)
Gagarine (2020)
Atlantics (2019)
Tommorowland (2015)
Truman Show (1998)
Stepford Wives (1975)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Soylent Green (1973)
Don't Look Up (2021)
Children of Men (2006)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Hunger Games (2012)
Robocop (1987)
Nation Estate (2012)
Silent Running (1972)
High Rise (2015)
Ex Machina (2014)
 
Books mentioned:
Rem Koolhaas (Remment Lucas Koolhaas) is a Dutch Architect and author of the book Delirious New York published in 1978.
Ready Player One by Ernest Kline. (Made into a film by Steven Speilberg in 2018)
Every Version of You by Grace Chan.
Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R Weaver.
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 by Eman Abdelhadi and M. E. O'Brien
Mouldiness Manifesto by Friedensreich Hundretwasser
 
TV Shows mentioned:
Westworld
Andor
 
Other links of interest:
A page from Mark Bould's website about the city: https://markbould.com/tag/paul-verhoeven/
'5 Minute Modern' YouTube  video about Brutalism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib82VYtjFtY
An interesting article about Fritz Lang's depiction of the future city The German Take on Gotham: https://jacobin.com/2025/12/the-german-take-on-gotham
 
NEXT EPISODE!
The next episode will be about Destroy All Monsters which features lots of Kaiju, a Japanese Moonbase, evil aliens who look like beautiful women and groovy 60s outfits. You can rent the film on Apple TV (at least in the UK) but take a look at Just Watch and Rotten Tomatoes to see where the film is showing in your region. DVDs and Blurays of the film are also available for relatively reasonable prices.